Former UK chancellor Alistair Darling dies

Veteran Labour politician, who served in cabinets for 13 years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, dies aged 70

Former chancellor and veteran Labour politician Alistair Darling has died aged 70. All photos: Getty Images

Mr Darling appeared on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show in Aberdeen, in 2022

The then chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and Mr Darling visited the Hitachi Rail Europe plant in Ashford during a pro-Remain event before the EU referendum in 2016

Alex Salmond, then first minister of Scotland, and Mr Darling, then chairman of Better Together take part in a live television debate in Glasgow, in 2014. They were trying to influence voters before the referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country

Mr Darling talks to reporters on the Labour Party election tour bus in 2010

Mr Darling hugs his wife Maggie outside number 11 Downing Street in 2010, before he presented the government's last budget before the general election

Mr Darling with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman at the Labour Party Conference in 2009

Mr Darling with the 2009 Pre-Budget Report at the Treasury in London

Gordon Brown speaks with Mr Darling during a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in 2009

Then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Mr Darling at the Scottish Labour party conference in 2004

Then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mr Darling addresses the Labour Party Conference in 1999

Then Labour Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Mr Darling and MP Glenda Jackson hold an oversized tax bill for Prime Minister John Major during a demonstration outside Conservative Party Central Office in London in 1997

Former chancellor Alistair Darling, who oversaw Britain’s economy during the 2008 global financial crisis and executed an unprecedented banking bailout, has died aged 70.

The long-serving Edinburgh MP died after spending time in hospital being treated for cancer, a representative on behalf of his family said.

After Labour's 1997 landslide election win, he served in the cabinet for 13 years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

He was a Labour MP from 1987 to 2015 and chancellor during the financial crisis of 2008. He retired from the House of Lords in 2020, five years after being appointed a life peer.

On Thursday, Mr Blair paid tribute to his friend. “Alistair Darling was a rarity in politics. I never met anyone who didn't like him.

“He was highly capable, though modest, understated but never to be underestimated, always kind and dignified even under the intense pressure politics can generate.

“He was the safest of safe hands. I knew he could be given any position in the Cabinet and be depended upon. I liked him and respected him immensely as a colleague and as a friend.”

He added: “I remember him with huge affection. He has been taken from us far too soon.”

The current Chancellor, Conservative Jeremy Hunt, said he would be “remembered for doing the right thing for the country at a time of extraordinary turmoil”.

When the US subprime mortgage crisis spread to the UK, causing a liquidity crisis in the banking industry and triggering a run on the British bank Northern Rock, Mr Darling allowed the Bank of England to bail it out.

He then led the rescue and nationalisation of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which, he later said, was a few hours from running out of money.

"I was asked to come out and take a call from the then chairman of RBS [Tom McKillop] who said the bank was haemorrhaging money," Mr Darling said on the 10-year anniversary of the crash.

"Remember, this was not only the biggest in the world, it was about the same size as the entire UK economy. I said to him, 'How long can you last?' And what he said to me shook me to the core. He said, 'Well we're going to run out of money in the early afternoon'."

Gordon Brown paid tribute, saying: "Alistair will be remembered as a statesman of unimpeachable integrity whose life was defined by a strong sense of social justice and who gained a global reputation for the assured competence and the exercise of considered judgment he brought to the handling of economic affairs."

Mr Darling was born in London to a long line of Scots who made sure he went to school in Scotland. He then attended the University of Aberdeen, where he became president of the Student's Representative Council.

After graduating, he worked as a solicitor, but soon moved into politics, first as a local councillor in Lothian.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Darling “lived a life devoted to public service” and he would be remembered for guiding Britain through the global financial crisis with “calm expertise and honesty”.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Alistair Darling. My heart goes out to his family, particularly Maggie, Calum and Anna, whom he loved so dearly,' Mr Starmer said.

“Alistair lived a life devoted to public service. He will be remembered as the Chancellor whose calm expertise and honesty helped to guide Britain through the tumult of the global financial crisis.”

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf posted on X, formerly Twitter: “I am deeply saddened to hear of Alistair's passing. He dedicated his life to public service and was a giant of Scottish politics.

“My thoughts with his wife Margaret, children, family, friends and colleagues at this sad time.”

A family statement announced Mr Darling's death.

It read: “Mr Darling, the much-loved husband of Margaret and beloved father of Calum and Anna, died after a short spell in Western General Hospital under the wonderful care of the cancer team.”